Rudraprayag: Over 370 people, including devotees, stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Kedarnath, have been evacuated and sent to Lincholi to be airlifted as the rescue operation entered its fourth day Sunday.
So far, more than 10,000 people have been rescued from Kedarnath, Bhimbali and Gaurikund.
Chief Executive Officer of Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee Yogendra Singh said that these 373 people who left from Kedarnath with rescuers, including teams of SDRF and NDRF, for Lyncholi will be airlifted to safer places via helicopter.
Meanwhile, 570 passengers are also waiting for the helicopter at Kedarnath helipad.
Singh said the district administration, temple committee and Tirtha Purohit Samaj are providing food packets, water bottles and fruits to all the people stranded in Kedarnath.
According to officials, 110 pilgrims stranded on the Rambada-Chaumasi track have also been evacuated and taken to Chaumasi. More than 534 pilgrims and locals have been evacuated from this route so far.
The trek route to Kedarnath suffered extensive damage as a result of a cloudburst in Junglechatti near Lincholi Wednesday night.
Roads were washed away at many places, including Lyncholi, Bhimbali, Ghorapadav and Rambada, on the Kedarnath trek route. At some other locations, roads were damaged due to landslides and large stones falling from the hill, due to which pilgrims were stranded at many places.
Personnel of the SDRF, NDRF and police are engaged in the rescue operation. The Indian Air Force’s Chinook and MI17 helicopters airlifted some pilgrims from the area Friday.
Meanwhile, the construction of a footbridge has been started by the Army on the washed away road between Sonprayag-Gaurikund on the Kedarnath National Highway.
Rudraprayag district administration officials said the help of two sniffer dogs will now be taken in the rescue operation going on on the Kedarnath route.
They said that this operation will be carried out with the help of the Army.
According to officials, the sniffer dog squad has landed in Lincholi Helipad, from where it will start searching the entire area.
Officials believe that many people would have moved towards the forests to save their lives due to fear of rain and during this time, search will be conducted in such areas as the possibility of them getting lost is high.
PTI